


Role Reversal

by ProngsAndPens



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-21 07:06:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6042610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProngsAndPens/pseuds/ProngsAndPens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the events that take place at Silas take a slightly different turn due to a change in the personality of our two main characters. The story of broody journalism student Laura Hollis and happy-go-lucky punk-rock enthusiast Carmilla Karstein.</p><p>*Note* This still follows the webseries' storyline. Said storyline just slightly differs in things such as relationships, dicussions, and event order, for instance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Journalism Project And A New Roommate

**Author's Note:**

> *Note* This still follows the webseries' storyline. Said storyline just slightly differs in things such as relationships, dicussions, and event order, for instance.

"Silas University, in picturesque Styria. Home of greater knowledge, and, let's immediately admit it, weirdness. Various study programs and clubs are put at the disposal of students looking for higher learning.But inside its walls, you'll find mystery after mystery. And my job, as a journalist - well, journalism student, is to uncover the truth and unveil the unknown. So, there you have it, people. My journalism project. The world is going awry, and I believe that you have a right to know about it. After all, that's what journalism is about. Information. Let's start with this campus, shall we? Weird, paranormal-like things are happening, and nobody seems to care or ask questions about it. Well, I've seen all of Veronica Mars, and believe me, this is about to change. Last event : my roommate went missing. I'm trying to contact the services, but it seems no one will help there. So I'll conduct the investigation myself. Betty is no valedictorian student, but that means she's never here and I have my peace, so..."

Laura Hollis, student at Silas University, was startled out of her one-on-one chat with her webcam by the door of her two-bed dorm room opening. A dark-haired, slightly smaller girl came in, immediately followed by punk-rock music pouring out of her earphones, that were hanging from the collar of a dark shirt under an opened sleeveless leather jacket.

"Hey!" She greeted Laura on the way in, flashing her a smile and launching her army bag on the available bed, still covered in its former occupant's clothes. Laura frowned.

"Excuse me, but... Who the hell are you?" She glanced at the camera, trying to convery her outrage at the privacy breach wordlessly.

"Carmilla. I'm your new roommate, sweetheart." The punk-rock, leather pants-clad newcomer started sorting through the laundry.

"I already have a roommate. Or, well, I would if she wasn't missing. And I definitely won't have you. I'll find her, and you'll be out of here so fast there's gonna be scorch marks on those leather pants of yours." Carmilla sighed.

"Alright, Creampuff, but until then, I'll be here. Plus, did you even get along with your previous roomate? As far as I've heard from talking to the floor don and various people of this floor you don't even like company that much."

"I didn't like her, but she was almost never here anyways. Party animal. Aside from sleeping here, I barely ever saw her. And at least she never barged into the room blasting savage music."

After another sigh, though still followed by a faint smile, Carmilla turned her MP3 off.

"Alright. Well, I'll try to not bother you too much then." She smiled at her light-haired, newfound-roommate once again before flopping down on her bed, plugging her music in her ears at a lower, more discrete volume, and pulled out some old book from her bag, immediately absorbed by it.Laura sighed once again. This roommate business was already getting annoying, and she didn't feel like recording her project with an unwanted guest anymore. She turned her webcam off.

Days passed. Laura was still trying to learn to tolerate her new roommate, who seemed very inclined to go "sharesies" on Laura's snacks. There was a blood milk container incident, but the floor don, Perry, and her friend Lafontaine weren't really inclined on helping Laura when she was irritable and almost all the time cynical and sarcastic. Carmilla, on the other hand, seemed to always try and be on a good mood. Late mornings, chocolate pinching, disdain for the chore wheel, messy habits, impressive and ever-growing list of a-little-too-familiar "study buddies",...

One day, Laura snapped.

"What the frilly hell is your deal?"

"Just trying to lighten up the mood, cupcake. Your project has a tendency to turn into the darkest news report I've ever witnessed, and there's only so much gloomy and hopeless a girl can bear."

"The world IS bad, Carmilla. It hurts people and takes the ones you love away. Considering what you listen to, you should know."

'What, my music? It's empowering. It's about the wold being hell but us holding on. About people seeing us as crap but us loving ourselves nonetheless. About someone bleeding for the one they love, but they would rather die in love than live in an automated world. "You call me a b*tch like it's a bad thing"? It's about women not caring what some man thinks of them. It's quite a feminist song, actually."

"Doesn't erase the fact that a racist, mysoginistic, heteronormative, capitalist, war-inclined patriarchy is what rules us, and we won't be able to escape it."

"So we should just abandon all hope and let it crush us?"

"It will, at some point! That's just the way the world is, Carmilla. The bad guys win because the good are too busy trying to make sure no one gets hurt." Carmilla paused.

"... Wow. You're really not about positive outlook, huh?"

"There is no positive outlook. This world sucks."

"Whatever you say, I guess. But I'll stick with my point of view nonetheless." Laura sighed and arranged her notes. Then Carmilla went back to another book and music, and Laura recorded some more of her investigation.


	2. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura finds out some information that could help her. She decides to take matters in her own hands.

Laura was trying. Hard. She had found out that some people who went missing had actually reappeared a couple days later, though with no recollection of the events between the party they were at and the moment they were found.

So, she decided to take matters into her own hands. And ask those girls once again if they were sure that there was nothing they remembered.

Perry and LaFontaine had been reluctant to give up the names of the girls, one tried to be tactful, but got cut off by her friend who just bluntly and honestly explained the reason. The words came back to her mind :

"She means they're traumatised and you're on a mission." These words, however true in the minds of the protective official and unofficial floor don weren't enough to change the smaller girl's mind. Nothing would disturb her puisuit of knowledge, and the obstacles only seemed to make her want to dig deeper. Laura could be pushy and convincing when it came to it, and she ended up with two names scribbled on a piece of paper. The afternoon of the very same day, two girls were sitting on Laura's bed, while Carmilla was laying on hers and Laura herself sat expectantly on her desk chair.

Neither of them remembered anything about the missing days, no matter how Laura asked. The girl named Natalie then seemed to have a flashback about some dreams she may have had right before the party she disappeared at. It was blurry, but seemed to freak her out nonetheless. Some sort of dream about a creepy shadow...

Carmilla's very well-timed whistling of The Twilight Zone and The X-Files theme didn't seem to help, at all. Natalie stormed out of the room, studdering something about her hoping that "it" would over Laura and not touch her face, and was quickly followed by the other girl, Sarah Jane. Laura didn't manage to catch up to them.

She was going to kill her roommate.

Not only was that extremely distasteful of her considering the fact that the dream seemed traumatising, but maybe if she hadn't done that Natalie might have remembered something that could actually have helped. And all she could do was make crappy jokes. This whole excuse of "lightening up the mood" didn't really do it this time, and Laura voiced out her frustation on her "careless, idiot of a roommate who was so stupid she couldn't even manage proper sentences if they weren't song lyrics". Carmilla's expression darkened, and she walked out of the room. Laura was left alone.

Something in the back of her mind whispered that she shouldn't have said that, and wanted to apologise. Laura decided to nip that idea in the bud. She wasn't the one who ruined her opportunity.

Or was she?

When Laura managed to get Natalie and Sarah to come back in her room, they were entirely different people, one of them hanging from the neck of a more-than-happy-to-oblige guy wearing a muscle shirt bearing the letters of the university's fraternity, and Natalie blabbering on about how the dreams were nothing and wanting very much to table dance right then and there.

Laura, for the millionth time, sighed. Well, that was harrowing.


	3. External Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Laura triggers a Town Hall meeting, meets Summer Society member Danny Lawrence, and it doesn't really go smoothly.

Laura had to come to terms with it : she wasn't going to get anywhere alone. And she had decided to not even bother talking to carmilla. After what she told her, why would she want to help? They hadn't exchanged more than the occasional 'hey' ever since. In the beginning, Laura had wanted to blurt out a "sorry" and admit she went too far, but it seemed useless now. Too much time passed since it happened and it felt weird wantingto talk about it now. So she resolved to turn to the only resource where people outside of the univerity might be able to help : the internet. She gathered all her video journals, and hit the "upload" button.

Nearly immediately after, her computer started beeping with comments and views. Well, well, well, Laura thought. Who would have known that so many people would have an interest in the paranormal? But she was harshly brought back to reality when an alarm started blaring. Carmilla walked out of the room, only telling to Laura that the alert was a Town Hall Meeting call, and that they had to hurry. Laura stormed out of the room after closing her computer.

Rule number one when investigating the weird in a university : the dean of students might not be happy to hear that everything that is found out was posted publicly on the internet. That's most likely bad publicity. When a sister from the Summers Society intervened and started raising questions, the meeting ended up in some sort of a war between fraternity and sorority over who would get the night watches and escorts and the conflicts over timetables. Laura managed to escape and head to her room. She took a shower (that almost tuned into a flood because of a pile of dark hair that was definitely not hers clogging the shower drain) and noticed that her roommate was back when was done scraping fish from her body and hair. 

By some miracle, Carmilla was completely unscathed. No trace of fish or dirt or anything of the like. She was reading and didn't pay much attention to the blonde girl who sat at her desk, checking her videos.

 

It turned out that many people were curious. The audience for her webcam journal exceeded anything she could have hoped for. She grinned. Good luck keeping everything under the mat, now that so many people are aware of all the things that goes down in here, she thought.

A knock on her door made her close her tabs and turn around. A tall ginger-haired girl was standing in the doorway, and waved shortly at Carmilla, who answered in the same manner, before turning back to Laura.

"Hi. I'm, uh, I'm Danny Lawrence, from the Summer Society sorority. You're in Journalism right? And from what i gather you're the one who posted the videos. Well, what I mean to say is, not everyone here likes the way things are, so yeah. If I ever come across something that might interest you, I'll make sure to let you know." Laura smirked.

"I don't think you'd get more than what I've gathered so far, but thanks, I guess. And i don't really need any help." Danny sighed.

"Okay, well, still. The offer stands. Later. And bye Tommy!"She addressed that last part to Carmilla, who let out a small laugh.

"Bye, Clifford" Danny scoffed, smiling , and walked out, closing the door behind her. 

Laura looked at Carmilla, raising an eyebrow. The dark-haired girl held her stare.

"What?" she asked.

"Tommy?" Laura simply said. Carmilla smiled.

"Tommy Thayer. The lead guitar of Kiss. I wear a lot of eyeliner. Made sense." She went back to her book, and Laura just said "Hm" before going back to her computer.

Soon after, someone knocked on the door again and opened it. Two large men entered. It was the guy who Sarah Jane was with, and another dark-haired, slightly smaller member of the frat house. They stated that they were her 'designated Zeta Omega Mu dudescorts'. Laura nearly snorted at the term, and coldly thanked her roommate when she nicely, but firmly (and maybe a little flirtily) managed to get them out of the room. She answered a simple 'You're welcome, just try not to get us hauled in front of the Dean for your project another time, alright?' to which she added a smiling wink, and decided to go out for the night, leaving Laura to her own thoughts. 

This missing roommate business was making a lot of waves, and while Laura enjoyed some of them, she was aware that she had just avoided a tsunami. That was a hassle.


	4. An Unexpected Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a smitten Carmilla invites Laura to the teenager version of a ball. So, like, a party.

Then, one day, Laura was done recording when she noticed that Carmilla was not absorbed in some old book, but instead was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking at her, and smiling. Laura (for the whatever-three-digit-number-you-can-imagine time of the day) sighed.

"What?"

"Nothing. You're interesting to watch." Laura stood still for a second, before closing her fanfiction window and completely facing her roommate.

"In what way am I interesting?"

"You're focused. You really want to do well."

"Yeah, well. the sooner I'm done with this place the sooner I can find a job and start reimbursing my student loan. We're not really rolling on money at home." Carmilla looked down. She let out a quiet "Ah." after a pause.

"Yeah. So can I go back to my work?"

"Fanfiction writing is more of a hobby than a job, though you seemed really intent on writing some good stuff. Anyways, I also had a question."

"What?"

Laura had said the single word more agressively than she intended to. Carmilla was taken aback, and hadn't taken her eyes off of her combat boots since Laura had told her about her money situation. She seemed to be... Blushing?

"Well, two, actually. First, how is your missing roommate search coming along?"

"Nothing. It's been the same point blank since I started. No one saw her, nobody knows where she could have gone, yaddi yaddi yadda. It's really driving me nuts. I just wish Betty was back so i can get this over with." Carmilla frowned and Laura could have sworn seeing her pout.

"Hey. I'm more concerned about the fact that such questions remain unanswered than anything else, honestly. Roommate-wise, you're not entirely terrible." A smile lit up the brunette's face and Laura surprised herself feeling the corners of her mouth slightly lifting up as well.

"Thank you. Which leads us to my second question! You could probably use a break from reality. How about I take you to one of those stupid frat parties you hate so much? There's one tomorrow night."

"You're going to a party?"

"Yep."

"And... You'd like me to come with you?"

"I think I'd like that... very much." Okay, whoa. Now Carmilla was leaning forward, looking up at Laura with hooded eyes, concealed under bangs, eyelashes, and ultra-thick eyeliner. Was she fl... No, impossible, Laura thought. Carmilla Karnstein, happy-go-lucky punk-rock enthusiast couldn't be flirting with hopeless, pop-culture inclined Laura Hollis. They were like two and a half world apart, there were limits to how ironic and weird the universe could be, right? Right? Laura stopped herself from sighing at the very last moment. The sooner she'd get this over with the better off she'd be. And she didn't want to launch herself into a discussion with her roommate weighing the pros and cons of a night out.

"Ugh, fine. I'll go. But not for long."

"Great! I'll make it worth your while!" Carmilla got up, flung her schoolbag over her shoulder, and looked down at Laura, still sitting at her desk.

"There's a talk I wanna catch on Goethe, so... I'll be back before sundown!" She walked around for a bit, put down something on Laura's desk, then left.

"Well that was..." started Laura. She got a little carried away watching the steaming mug on her desk. "... My cocoa. Course it was."

Laura still had half of a workday to go through, so she started to reflect on how much progress she had made this far. Which amounted to... Nearly nothing. A reserved girl afraid of her own dreams turned into a party animal prone to table dancing and was of no use anymore... Wait.

How did she become like that?

She searched through the net for the names and exploits of the two girls she had met, then went on to Betty. All three of them had one thing in common : they were all front row students, who turned into pod-people. And they all disappeared at parties. If only there was a way to know what happened over there...

 

After what felt like an eternity of brain-tiring research, Laura gave up and just went to scroll facebook.


	5. Party Trap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla's secret is out. Now let's capture the vampire!

The next day, Laura had found out about Carmilla, the kidnapper vampire. Infiltrating the alchemy club's building as to steal their pictures was an idea she got after reading a facebook post about how they were in fact documenting all parties, which was, in a way, creepy, but served Laura's purpose extremely well.

After some cookie-filled peace talks with Perry and Lafontaine, both of them agreed to have a talk about Carmilla. The whole vampire concept came from Lafontaine. After the first moment of surprise and incredulity, though, their affirmation made sense. Blood milk container, and, after some University's history research, uncanny resemblance between pictures of Arcmilla Karnstein and Mircalla Karnstein and so on, it was obvious there was something supernatural about a certain Carmilla Karnstein. And while the Don and her friend were reluctant on doing anything to the girl, against whom they held no animosity, Laura's evidence made them admit that something indeed had to be done, even only peaceful questioning, and that Carmilla would most likely not be willing to answer questions after finding out that her big secret got uncovered.

Lauta had devised of a plan to capture her roommate. Lafontaine rustled up a couple Zeta members, and Perry a friend of hers in the Summers group that was wanting to put a stop to the kidnapping. When none else than Danny Lawrence and Sarah Jane's boyfriend, Kirsch, plus his friend Will, turned up at the door, there had been another argument.

 

"Come again on the "I don't need any help" talk, Hollis?"

"Hey!" snapped the shorter girl. "Not like I was expecting my roommate to be both the kidnapper and some undead fiend from the pits of hell."

"Yeah, err... I don't really wanna hurt Carmsexy, little nerd. I mean, isn't there some sort of peaceful pow-wow talk we could do with her?" Asked a rather uncomfortable-with-the-idea-of-grabbing-anyone-without-their-consent Kirsch. 

"Not really. She's super strong. If she feels like biting any of us, we need to be ready. I'll be the bait, you wait in the bathroom until she gets close to me, then you jump her, alright?"

There wasn't much discussion and convincing needed afterwards. The biting argument was heavily tipping the scales.

 

After some fighting back on the dark-haired girl part, Laura stood victorious in front of a tied up and not very happy Carmilla. The team had bruises, but no one was bitten.

"So, we know you've been following those girls at parties, and we know you're a vampire. Now, what on earth is your mobile?" Carmilla looked at her, hurting eyes and pout. She refused to say anything.

Screams outside of the room left the two roommates alone. Everyone else had run out to rescue whomever had called for it.

"Sorry, cupcake, but your cartesian spirit wouldn't understand." Carmilla said, after a long silence. All trace of a smile had gone from her face, and Laura mind-slapped herself when she realised that she was missing it. Not the right time for that.

"Why do you capture them?" This time, the sigh came from Carmilla.

"Because sometimes it's better to lose five people every twenty years than have anything worse happen. More people die from dog bites or trampled by cows every year."

"Wait, what?" Another sigh elicited from the other girl's lips.

"Buckle up, creampuff, you've got yourself a story."

The rest of the evening was a history lesson as well as Carmilla's backstory.


	6. European History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmilla tells her story, but with no sock show involved.

Born from a wealthy count, Mircalla, Countess von Karnstein grew up sheltered from the world. Murdered at a ball when she was sixteen, the Mother she knew after death gave her a new chance at life. The sacrifices occured every twenty years, and that was the darker part, but Carmilla didn't let it get to her. She never knew them that well, and she wouldn't let that turn her into some sad immortal wishing for redemption. Every time after that, she had twenty years of freedom. And she did with that time all the good she could bring in the world.

Once, she actually got really close to a girl named Ell, but she had to accept her fate, and she knew that Ell wouldn't understand. She may have taken five lives every twenty years, but she saved many more, just like she made sure that the lives she offered to the Light were not really good people, when she could help it.

She saw Mozart grow from a small composer to a Kapellmeister, and heard him play the greatest works of his life. She healed people during the french Revolution, dragging them behind the Barricades, using both her strength and her ability to not die from bullet wounds so people would be safe. She met the greatest thinkers of the Enlightment, and read their works as soon as they were published. She learned first with her mother, then with anybody she wished. She figured out how to use her charms to get people to obey and do what she wished from them. She made sure leaders made better choices for their people.

She did the same during the Napoleonic wars, and visited the countries that were colonised. She grieves for the cultures lost, with her family, and tried to make things better, though there always was a limit to what a young woman could do in those times.

She saw Elektra in Paris, saved people on the Titanic (already dead, no chance at freezing), even through the First World War she did her best. She had more than three hundred years behind her, and never stopped protecting people.

Then came Ell Van Helsing. Her father was a vampire hunter. Carmilla didn't know it, and it almost killed her. To save her, her mother had to hide her. Lock her away. Carmilla was put in a coffin of blood so she wouldn't starve, while her Mother made sure the Van Helsing family either forgot about her, or died.

An explosion in the last great war of humanity freed her. Confused and still scared that the hunters were after her, she went to Paris and hid there. So much time had passed and everything was different. She helped how she could, hiding people from the Resistance, working in an infirmary. Her Mother found her again, and they went back to their routine.

"And there you have it, it has been so ever since." Carmilla finished.

"So you've seen the bad in this world?"

"For centuries, cupcake."

"How could it not break you?"

"We always have a choice. Yeah, this world is awful, but the stars always shine, even if dark coulds block the view. It's reassuring to see how small we are in comparison to the big universe. Puts things in perspective."

"Hm..."

The silence carried on for long minutes. You could hear a pin drop.

"We missed the party."

"You're still a murderer."

"And always will be. But i'll deal with that when the time comes. And that time isn't now, unless you plan to stake me, which would be the cherry on top of this mortifying conversation."

"You were planning to eat me!" Laura snapped.

"Wait. You think that was me trying to eat you?' an amused smile grew on Carmilla's lips.

'Well if you weren't trying to eat me then what were you... Oh." Carmilla's cheeks were flushed and she couldn't help but wholeheartedly laugh.

"Not used to the compliment, sundance?"

"Well, no. It's not like a lot of people bother."

"Yeah. They probably get dicouraged when you get angry at them for not seeing how bad the world is."

"The world IS bad."

"Yeah, it can be. But I see the good in it. You don't."

"There is nothing good to see." Carmilla paused, looking at Laura with piercing eyes. Silence settled in. Laura shifted a little on her chair, uneasy under the piercing gaze.

"What?" No animosity in it, this time.

"Who or what hurt you?" Laura's heart skipped a beat. She didn't answer. Carmilla started again.

"Laura, I'm past three hundred years old. I've met people who were deeply changed by the world. People like you. Every time, when you learn to know them, you find out that the main reason is a wound. Someone or something broke them and slapping a bandaid on a wound doesn't keep it from bleeding or festering, believe me, I've seen it. Who or what hurt you?"

That was unexpected.


	7. Your Turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura opens up to Carmilla, for the better or worse.

"You should take a psychology class."

"Already have, creampuff. My academics degrees are... Numerous."

"Ah."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Would you care?"

"I cared enough to ask."

"Yeah."

They talked until late into the night. At first, there only was silence. Carmilla didn't say a word. Laura didn't either, until the pressure of both Carmilla's willingness and understanding and Laura's flashbacks and words that she let die at her lips finally made the blonde girl give in.

 

"I never really knew my mother. She passed away when I was really young, but not young enough to not remember her. I see her in all the little things : the way she used to make my favourite food on special occasions, what she used to sing while washing dishes or hanging laundry. It's a really empty spot. Both her and my father worked, and at the time it made things alright. But now that she's gone it's hard. For me, but also mostly for my dad. That's why he gets really overprotective of me. He can't stand the thought of losing me too. And since she's been gone, we started to have money problems. We still managed to make it work every month, but the usual little luxuries of life are simply impossible. All the money my father managed to save every year went to the account we made so i could go to college. And now here i am. There's still a debt, though. A little sparing here and there doesn't pay for everything. And when you watch the television, it doesn't really make you want to jump up in the air in amazement of how beautiful life is."

Carmilla let Laura talk, never taking her eyes off of her. She gave a small nod, sometimes, to encourage her to keep going, but didn't interrupt her even once. She wanted to wrap her arms around her, and tell her it would be okay, she even thought about giving her money (a 300 year-old bank account makes you easily rich, especially since Carmilla had known princes and kings), but it might not have sounded right. Carmilla made a mental note to remember that later.

Then Laura asked if Carmilla could go against her mother. Save the girls, stop the sacrifices. Carmilla's expression darkened. Her mother was the Dean, very old, and extremely powerful. You don't realy try and put her motives into question. And you definitely don't want to try and stop her, lest you find yourself dead, well, dead-er, and your head serving as a doorstop.

Laura still tried on her own, and since the archives were how she figured out Carmilla's secret, she was going to try it again. She however didn't free Carmilla at first, and the trap-team she made reluctantly agreed. Carmilla didn't really care much, she had blood and movies and all the time in the world to watch the smaller blonde girl throw herself body and sould into her work, both supernatural and academic. After all, midterms were close.

Carmilla was still freed after some time. Bathroom and shower breaks are needed, especially when your roommate start smelling like the basement of an abbatoir. When she got out of the shower, Carmilla saved Laura's life from Will, another vampire who saw humans as loud, troublemaking juice-bags. Carmilla didn't fear her mother too much of the consequences of Will telling her Mother about these actions of her. She was her favourite, after all, and Will was making a lot of trouble sometimes, not cleaning up after himself.

A run to the library catalog left them with a usb-stick-size spirit of a man who used to be a student, and an old sumerian book. They found out about a sword that could technically stop the light, and Carmilla offered to go and get it.

Through long nights of talking and reassurances, Carmilla could see her roommate getting better. Healing. Maybe, someday, they'd have a chance.

She knew that failing to stop the sacrifice or letting it happen would mean breaking the girl, this time beyond repair.


	8. Not Enough Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something makes Carmilla and Laura's relationship go awry, and things take a turn for the worst.

All those events, and the talks that both the girls had grown to love, led to a very unsettled Carmilla Karnstein when Laura found herself posessed by the Dean. She found out about their little plan, and Carmilla was ordered to stand down. If she didn't, her Mother would find herself forced to kill both her and that nosy roommate of hers. If they let it hapen, they stood a chance at survival.

When Laura regained conciousness, Carmilla hesitated, but told her the truth. It was not one of those things she felt able to keep a secret. It was too dangerous. Laura kept silent for what seemed an eternity before speaking.

"So, if we try to fight your mother, she'll kill you? And probably me as well..."

"I won't let that happen, Laura. She won't hurt you."

"Carm. We don't have a choice. We can't let your mother win, but I can't sacrifice you to feel better about myself. God, I should never have started searching for Betty!"

"Laura." Carmilla had cupped the smaller girl's cheeks inside her hands. "We can do this. We can find a solution. There has to be a way out of this. There always is! We have to stay brave and think hard, we'll figure it out." Laura took a deep breath, then broke away from Carmilla's touch.

"Leave, Carmilla. There's not enough time left, you and I both know it. If you're far enough she won't be able to reach you, and then you'll have twenty years to find a solution. Just go."

"She will kill you!"

"We all die someday, might as well be in a few weeks! At least i'll have accomplished something worthwhile. I have to do this. Just go, Carmilla. We're done." Laura turned away.

"You can't say that, Laura. You haven't even had a chance to live yet, don't throw it away!"

"I couldn't save my mother, or anyone so far, but I can do this, and it's probably more than i ever will be able to do! Leave, now. I don't want to see you again."

Carmilla felt tears fill her eyes but she blinked them away, and stormed through the door, biting her lip so all the things she wanted to tell Laura would not get past her throat. The girl was determined. She'd most likely fail and die, but Carmilla had to do this. She had to use those extra years to figure out a way to win. For her.

The next morning, Carmilla was definitely gone. Laura felt empty without her, but she was the only one to blame for it. After all, she was the one who told Carmilla to go.At least, now, she could think of saving people without fearing for the life of somebody she had grown to like so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really glad this got notes so quick! I hope you continue to enjoy the story ^~^  
> prongsandpens.tumblr.com if you have prompts or asks ;)


	9. Heroic

The battle came, and Laura wasn't really ready, but there was no way she would give up.

She tried to face the vampires with the help of Perry, but was thrown into a broom closet. After a phone text making it possible for her to rustle up the cavalry (read : angry bros from the Zeta Omega Mu house, and probably-even-angrier sisters of the Summer society), they were facing an army of vampires with stakes, arrows, salted herrings, and tridents. Mainly. Some Summers seemed to have felt crafty, and the weapons they were brandishing were hard to name.

Technically, it was already lost. Who could win a battle against immortals? The Zeta's courage and the Summer's skill proved suprisingly great, but still. Those were immortal, super fast, super strong vampires. And the only things the humans had going for them was their numbers, which were still small.

But then the light came, and everyone was hypnotised. Shadows seemed to be in there, reaching out to everybody standing. Laura was mesmerised, just like everyone else, and started going towards the light. And towards the pit.

That is, until someone, no, something, grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, and pulled her away. Laura was startled back to reality. She turned around at whatever it was that led her away, trying to identify it.

It was a giant black cat. Looking right at her. It seemed to be slightly out of breath. Sor what reason, Laura did not know. Then, it shrank, and shifted, and there was Carmilla, standing above Laura. Conflicted feelings rose up in the girl's chest. Gratefulness because it was not the first time Carmilla saved her life, anger because what in Hell or Hogwarts was she doing there , relief to know that her roommate was okay, happiness to see her again, sadness to know that is she was there then she might not be fast enough to get away before her mother went after her,... The room was starting to spin, her head dizzy with trying to understand all she was feeling at once. Then she noticed something in Carmilla's hand. A sword. A sword like a hollow in reality, eating light. And Carmilla was smiling.

"Got the solution, cupcake! You didn't think I'd let you down, did you? That would so not be me!" Then, she looked at the light. Her earphones, hanging once again from her collar, were diffusing punk-rock music. Maybe it was louder than usual, Laura couldn't recall very well, but she knew that somehow she'd missed the sound, even though she didn't feel like telling Carmilla right then and there, she'd do it after, if there was one. Moreover, that was an embarassing thing to admit, after all. Laura knew Carmilla would chuckle with that smile that looks so well on her, squinting eyes and her chest raising up and down, the way ir rarelty does because she's dead and doesn't need to breathe. Laura couldn't understand how she could believe that Carmilla would stay away and let her die. She was even slightly guilty to have believed it the morning after she was gone.

"You know, Cupcake, not the pull the heroic vampire crap card, but now's my time to deal with whatever I have to deal with. Oh, and I hope the milk container is still in the fridge, and that you didn't drink it, just in case I would come back. I know you've always been dying to know what O-neg tastes like." Laura let out a honest laugh, that surprised both girls. Carmilla smiled like she had heard heaven, and Laura blushed. It was the first time Laura had laughed out loud, and it was because of Carmilla, in the middle of a battlefield, with a fascinating light and hazed, frozen people around it. What a weird moment to do some humour.

Then Carmilla ducked and rolled to the side, sword in hand. A murder of crows flew to her, all beaks and claws. Laura didn't move, too afraid or surprised. Carmilla twirled her sword around, aiming at the crows. She was fast, very fast. It was as if she was surrounded by a shadow, dancing around her, and anything that came near her was vanquished. Then the crows seem to back off and transform in a way much alike the one with which Carmilla turned into a human moments before. Laura shuddered when she recognised the figure that took the birds' place.

The Dean, Carmilla's mother, was looking at her. And she was not happy.

"So, my diamond girl betrays me?"

"I can't let you hurt her, mother. Just stop, let me do this, we don't have to harm anyone."

"Oh, but we do." The Dean answered in a soft, sultry voice. "You know we do. And she's just a human, remamber. She'll die in what will be the blink of an eye in the existence that is promised to you. Why bother? You and I know this is the right thing to do." Her voice... thought Laura. It was the kind that got right through your heart, putting you under its spell. Laura felt her morals conflicting with the words she just heard, slowly giving way to them. She found herself thinking that maybe murdering people was not too bad after all. Her conscious tried to snap back, screaming, but the Dean was still talking and the more she did, the more Laura couldn't resist accepting each sentence as an Axiom, a given truth with no need to be proven.

"Stop this, Mother." Laura was yet again brought back to reality. Carmilla was unshaken, undazed. Laura was taken aback. Their age difference should have easily subdued Carmilla to the other vampire. How did she manage to resist? How powerful was she, truly, and did she even knew she had this much strength, and maybe magic, in her?

"Stop what, Carmilla?" Was the smiling answer that was given to the girl. As if nothing had been done wrong.

"I won't ply to this. I won't let you hurt her. Or them. I can't."

"Why do you care so much? I saved your life, Carmilla! More than once! And you would try to rebel against me because of one girl?"

"She's different. She's special. And I won't allow you to kill her. Or harm her in any way, for that matter."

"Oh, my darling girl. Let yourself be yet again romanced by one of the marks, didn't you? Stone cannot love flesh, i told you so long ago. You'll get youself killed, what makes you think this one is different than Ell? Why couldn't she be a descendant of the Van Helsings? Would you sacrifice your pretty little neck to save a human that could be originated from the family who tried to murder you? Or else, what is she is from the family of those who killed you at that ball? Would you like loving the descendant of another of your murderers?" There was a pause.

Carmilla had been taken aback, both by the mention of her ex, of her family, and of the events that led her to her death, centuries ago. Laura saw older fears creep behind her eyes, those dark brown eyes she had more than once felt herself getting lost into. Over time and lengthy talks, she could know Carmilla's mood from just looking into them. The slighest hint of fear, sadness, amusement, laughter, nothing escaped her. Laura felt concerned. It was rare to see Carmilla unhappy. And it was not pleasant. The brunette's eyes darted to Laura's and, for a split second, they exchanged glances. Something in Carmilla's eyes changed, but it was too short for Laura to figure out this time. The girl looked back at her mother, took a deep breath and swallowed.

"Laura would never hurt me. And if she did it would never be on purpose. She is good, even if she doesn't believe it herself." The sentence was assured, true. Not an ounce of hesitation could be heard through any of the words.

"Fine, then. If it really has to come to this, I'll have to kill you, and then kill her as well. But hear this, Carmilla. I will make her regret turning you against me." Carmilla squinted a little. Laura recognised the expression, this time. Rage.

She lifted her sword once again and launched attack after attack, fighting her mother with all the strength she had, and all the swordsmanship she ever gathered through her years. It was a hell of a battle, but at the end, only one of them was left standing, the blood of a vampire as old as time covering the blade, hilt, and pommel of a sword as black as night. It gave the blade a somber shine.

A leather-clad punk-rock brunette, with ruffled hair and bruises and wounds, was standing above the body of a probably milleniums-old vampire.

She had a somber expression etched into her face, focus from the battle and regret that it had to come to it. But she knew there was no other way than that one, and the frown was rapidly replaced by a smile.

"Sorry you had to see this. She's gone now. She won't even be able to cast a spell that could hurt or posess someone. You'll be okay. All of you." Carmilla took a deep breath and then laughed, her smile growing wider. "Well, you know I would love to chat, but I have stuff to do. Smell ya later, rock on Cupcake!"

Then she ran to the pit and leapt inside the light, wielding her sword.

All faded out to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll post the last chapter as soon as i can!  
> find me at prongsandpens.tumblr.com


	10. The Hero Leans In...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the ending of this story, it's been a ride ^~^

Laura Hollis passed her journalism class. And all her other midterms. Turrns out saving the lives of people easily gets you on the "pass" side of pass-fail. And she knew that she should be happy; But she was feeling empty, and sad. In a way it's as if nothing had happened since the beginning of the year. Sure, she was sort of having her five minutes of fame, but all that did was get some more people to know her name. The feelings she had echoed to the ones she used to have, but she didn't feel exactly the way she used to feel before meeting Carmilla. That girl had had such an impact on her, the Laura Hollis of the past would be deeply concerned at who the blonde had become. She'd smile looking up at the stars, she found some space for a couple of punk-rock albums within her music library, she started a journal to lay her feelings and understood why, in one of their evening or night talks, Carmilla suggested that it would be freeing. It was. And because of Laura's chocolate-pinching, sudy-byddy-collecting, kind-of-terrible roommate, things were forever different...

And Laura's heart was broken.

"So this is the end, people. Evil is vanquished. Good is victorious. Carm managed to prove me wrong, after all." her voice started cracking. She knew that it might be good for her, she had been told so, but recalling her face, smiling at her before jumping to her death, that was not something Laura could handle well just yet. Carmilla had been afraid when dying for the first time. She had been scared when the Van Helsings came after her. But there, standing before Laura, there was not a trace of fear in the other girl. She was determined. "And I know that she was a terrible roommate, with complete disregerd for the chore wheel and a habit of being a little too friendly with people she brought back to pseudo-study with, and that one big gesture doesn't erase centuries of what's essentially murder, but she was my terrible roommate. And she make the big gesture for me. And now she's dead." Laura had to pause. The words felt strange in her mouth. Tears rolled out of her eyes, but she tried to push through the sobs that were now making her chest shakily rise up and down. "I mean -- she's been dead for a while, but now -- now she's gone, and she's -- she's not coming back." Laura took a few deep breaths. She knew that there would have to be a moment when she'd have to let it out, but it couldn't be just now. It had to wait a little more. "Carmilla. Wherever you are, if there's anything, I hope you're okay. My dad tried to explain this to me when I was young and I never really believed it, and maybe you don't either since all you've known after death is another existence, but yeah. I hope you're alright. And I know I never said this because those things seem unnecessary, I just thought we'd have more time. I just meant to say... You know --"

A knock on her door startled her. It was so rare, people usually just barged in. Perry entered, looking slightly disheveled. She stuttered something about a crater, cherry bombs and bros when Danny Lawrence came into the room as well, carrying somebody in her arms.

 

Dark hair, a black t-shirt, leather pants tucked in combat boots and a familiar leather jacket...

 

Carmilla.

 

Laura rushed to her side. She looked dead, but then she was dead to this explained that. She then ran to the fridge, emptying (and, by some miracle, not spilling everywhere) the remaining of the milk container (she hadn't thrown it away yet, and the only reason why it just wasn't full was because Carmilla had already drank some of it, not because Laura had tried it. You don't do a regimen swap with a vampire). There was a long, expectant pause, during which nobody moved.

ThenCarmilla sat up, running a hand through her hair.  
"Well, that was a kick." She said, in a sigh, not yet fully aware of her surroundings.

Laura flung herself into the arms of her now-alive (well, as alive as a vampire can be) roommate, her relief taking a weight of her chest she hadn't found the right words to measure. Perry and Danny looked at each other and left the room. The two girls exchanged hesitant "hey"s and hesitant glances.

The words came pouring out of Laura's mouth. Concern, relief, questions, things left unsaid, she couldn't seem to be able to stop herself from talking. There was just so much to say and this felt like the only chance she'd have. What if it was a dream, and she'd wake up to the harsh reality of Carmilla still being dead. At least right now she could say all of that. But the most important words, she couldn't get out. They shied away at the idea of saying them, letting other words come before them, as long as those weren't said.

 

Until a whispered 'shut up' and the kisses of her now-definitely-vampire-girlfriend answered every question Laura could have had, and erased every thought of a discussion out of her head.

And maybe, just maybe, she felt something heal inside of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of this story, peeps ^~^ i've had a lot of fun writing it and hope you liked it  
> Please let me know what you think of it, i'd love to hear from you!  
> prongsandpens.tumblr.com


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